President Barack Obama speaks with White House Counsel Gregory Craig in the Oval Office, June 11 2009. (White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Sara Kliff: The Obama administration will comply with a court order to allow over-the-counter emergency contraceptive sales to women and girls of all ages, according to documents filed late Monday.

While the Department of Justice initially appealed this policy, it has now asked a judge with the Eastern District Court of New York to withdraw that challenge, provided he approves the federal government’s plan for compliance.

The reversal means that emergency contraceptives, a heated policy area that has vexed two presidential administrations, will soon be available to young women off of the pharmacy shelf.

John Stanton: House Democratic Assistant Leader James Clyburn charged Monday that a series of high-profile leaks about secret domestic spying programs are part of a broader effort by opponents of President Barack Obama to damage the administration politically. “There is an attempt by several people to do political harm to this president. I just think this is part of that,” Clyburn told BuzzFeed.

Clyburn, one of the top Democrats in the House, said he “absolutely” believes Snowden, who is currently in Hong Kong, should be extradited back to the United States to face charges.

Brad Plumer: On Monday evening, the Senate voted 66 to 27 to approve a massive farm bill that will set the course of U.S. food policy for the next half-decade. The old farm bill expired last year, and its replacement is 1,150 pages long, costing some $955 billion over 10 years. So what’s actually in it?

Food stamps and nutrition, $760.5 billion over 10 years. This is by far the biggest part of the farm bill, with the bulk taken up by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income families pay for food. The Senate bill tweaks some of the rules governing eligibility and cut spending slightly by $3.9 billion compared to what would happen if current policy was kept. (There’s also a controversial amendment by David Vitter to ban anyone convicted of a violent crime from food stamps for life.)

Booz Allen says Edward Snowden has been working for them for less than three months, yet he contacted Poitras in January and Glenn in February so does that mean he went to Booz Allen with the intention of stealing and leaking national security secrets? There’s something very stinky about this entire episode.

So how did this all begin?

I was originally contacted in January, anonymously.

By Edward Snowden?

Well, I didn’t know who it was.

What was the format?

Via email. It said, I want to get your encryption key and let’s get on a secure channel.

And he didn’t say what it was about?

He just said — that was the first, and the second was, I have some information in the intelligence community, and it won’t be a waste of your time.

Why do you think he contacted you? Were you the first person he contacted?

I can’t speak for him. Glenn and I just touched base about, what was your story, because we connected later in the spring. He, I think, got an email in February. But I didn’t know he’d gotten an email.

USA TODAY: Standard & Poor’s boosted its outlook for U.S. government debt Monday, citing stable government debt levels and predicting the U.S. economy will continue to improve. The credit rating service affirmed the U.S. government’s “AA+” long-term and “A-1+” short-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings. It revised the outlook for Treasuries to “stable” from “negative,” meaning S&P is less likely to downgrade U.S. bonds soon.

Monday’s announcement came after the Congressional Budget Office projected the U.S. deficit will shrink to $642 billion this year, from over $1 trillion the past four years.

The Daily Banter: Senator Al Franken confirmed that the Senate Judiciary Committee is well aware of how the intelligence community conducts itself and he downplayed some of the more hyperbolic implications out there. Franken: These are classified briefings. I can only discusses it in limited detail, but because I’m on the Judiciary Committee and because the Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction on NSA, and on FISA, and on the Patriot Act, this is something I availed myself of these briefings so nothing surprised me.And the architecture of these programs is very well aware. There are certain things that are appropriate for me to know that’s not appropriate for the bad guys to know. That makes a lot of sense. So anything the American people know the bad guys know. I have a high level of confidence that this is used to protect us and I know it has been successful at preventing terrorism.

I don’t believe that the American people should have to take the government’s word for it. I think there should be enough transparency so the American people understand whats happening. I think maybe they do to a greater degree now understand, but I can assure you that this isn’t about spying on the American people. This is about having the data available so that if there are suspicions about foreign persons or persons that have connections with terrorist organizations that we can connect the dots. Look I am chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. There’s probably no one in the Senate that looks at these issues in terms of American’s privacy more than I do.

Pew: A majority of Americans – 56% – say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable. And while the public is more evenly divided over the government’s monitoring of email and other online activities to prevent possible terrorism, these views are largely unchanged since 2002, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, conducted June 6-9 among 1,004 adults, finds no indications that last week’s revelations of the government’s collection of phone records and internet data have altered fundamental public views about the tradeoff between investigating possible terrorism and protecting personal privacy.

Steve Benen: President Obama was in California over the weekend for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, there was an agreement on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which Jon Chait saw as a “big deal,” in part because it will help combat the climate crisis, and in part because of what it tells us about the near future.

They invariably argue, “Even if the climate crisis is real, a meaningful remedy would require action from the U.S. and China, and since the Chinese won’t act, we shouldn’t either.” I’ve never cared for the argument, not just because it’s a defeatist attitude that dooms the future of humanity, but also because it ignores the potential for American leadership.

But the agreement over the weekend suggests the premise of the right’s argument isn’t correct, either — China will negotiate and will take steps to address the climate crisis. It’s more than I can say about congressional Republicans.

The REAL story is that these deluded RWNJ governors have NOT been able to spur economic growth WITHOUT stimulus by the Federal government. This was part of Hamilton’s original vision for this country, for God’s sake. All of our economic stability has come because of government investment.

I hope Howard Dean and his firebagger pals understand what’s really at stake if they hurt the Democrats.

Good morning 57 and you are so right. Look at Perry in Texas. Pretending the Texas miracle had nothing to do with the federal government which is a flat out lie. The sad part is people believe it and the media does an atrocious job reporting the facts.

Every other one of the RWNJ governors who point to any economic growth – it comes from the auto industry, for example or other government investment. Conservative politics is nothing but myth that has been sold to Americans over the last 30+ years and has become ‘fact’ to way too many people, with no truth to support their ridiculous claims. Economic growth does not ‘trickle down’. We have never recovered from an economic downturn without huge investment in job creation by the government. We are in unprecedented waters and it frustrates me that it’s so hard to get our message across.

You totally nailed it. Trickle down was the biggest con job that’s ever been. Reagan swore by it yet how many times during his two terms did he have to eat those words?

Look at the current crop of hypocrites who voted against the stimulus and ACA but secretly ran around begging for more money. Even Paul “Ayn Rand” Ryan was shown to be a complete phony. And the media takes him seriously and refuses to call these people out? Give me a break.

That would make them have to realize that the Founders were generally moderate-to-progressive in how they approached and addressed various issues in this nation. Something many in today’s GOP refuse to acknowledge or understand.

Good Morning GoBrooklyn! I’ve been reading your entries about your progress. Glad to hear that things are going as well as they are. Stay positive and in good spirits. Your attitude is very uplifting and I’m sure plays a big part in how well your recovery is going. I will continue to keep you in my thoughts.

While PBO is busy doing his thing, it felt good to email my congressperson yesterday and let them know we are still watching him and waiting for him to do the right thing for the people he represents RE: guns & immigration. I usually don’t get much back from him, but will keep you posted.

I’m having great trouble believing this GG nonsense is anything but a joke against someone – but I can’t work out who – perhaps the young man who sees himself as the savior of the world – Now he is talking of going to Russia. He should research Kim Philby – perhaps read this article from the Guardian

99ts I don’t know if it so much hatred as it was greed. I think somebody promised him a big payday and he figured the amount quoted was well worth giving up his citizenship for. Just speculation but not even Ron Paul supporters making 200k would be dumb enough to throw it all away without getting something in return.

If that was his reason he really wasn’t thinking. Being stateless in a world that really seems to hate immigration is not where anyone would choose to be. I don’t think he thought this through at all – or he was railroaded by someone.

Hawaii, Hong Kong, Iceland, Russia. The man is going around the world. Hope he finds a resting place but I doubt it. The Chinese leader was here in California with the President, they are not enemies. Russia is no longer a threat. Maybe North Korea will take him. We will just wait and see. Whatever happens in the dark will reveal itself in the light. Foolish man. I know people with a college degree and computer skills that would love to make two hundred dollars a year. Something is not right and we will soon find out the truth.

GG has a high opinion of his brilliance. He is very smug in his answer to LOD’s question as to how, given the level of surveillance the government has on individuals, his and Snowden’s communications were not detected/intercepted. The high school drop-out/college drop-out is so much more advanced in his knowledge of encryption than any IT person that would work in government intelligence.

At any rate, even if it is after the fact, their communications will be deciphered as the government builds its case against these two traitors.

I’ve been saying this since the debate on the law began in 2009. The administration should have ALWAYS been making job creation as a result of ACA a major selling point. It spurs innovation and freedom for self-employed and small business. It also creates jobs with the health of Americans as the product.

Don’t know why PBO and Sebelius haven’t listened to me on this. Oh, wait – they can just read my tweets and comments at TOD (snark)

The administration is no doubt swapped with the implementation of the ACA – the dems in congress should be shouting this from the rooftops. They are either incredibly quiet – or the media is ignoring them – probably both are involved.

Dem’s should have been screaming this message for the last 4 years. This is what Republicans do well and Dem’s refuse to learn. It’s maddening. These truths should have replaced the myths by now. The Dem’s failed in countering RWNJ fantasies effectively. Damn it, PBO had every right to expect his party’s support. However, I believe framing of this law could have started with the administration and been more effective. It’s a sore point with me.

Understood 57 – It also was a long term implementation. in my world (c.1973) the law and the implementation happened very quickly. My state was the last to sign up – but they didn’t stay outside of it for very long (and their choice only related to hospitals – everything else was automatic in).

When it is fully implemented – there may well be a number of states who change their mind and realize the benefits in many different ways.

As long as Dem’s stay ahead of the message. Imagine these red states and all the b.s. they believe. I can see their media flooded with “See! Obamacare doesn’t work!” when it’s their own state governments denying them Medicaid expansion, etc. We can no longer assume that what we laugh at and see as ridiculous is not a force to be reckoned with. These nefarious bastards are masters.

That being said, ACA will work. I, as a 63 year old self-employed person, intend to be one of the first to sign up in October. I am also looking into co-ops for small businesses that are being set up with government grants. IL got some of this grant money before Repubs extorted the elimination of these grants in the bargain made at the end of last year. (my husband and I are a ‘business’)

I’m hoping that one good result from this present kerfuffle is the reining in of private contractors who are in the “security business.” My husband watched most of Rachel last night (I went to the library). He said this morning something interesting came up about these private contractors…she is concerned about them. There are hundreds of thousands of people under this privatization plan who have access to confidential info. This is WRONG! I hope some contracts get snatched from these contractors. This started as we know in 2001 under GWB……our national security has no business in the hands of Snowdens and others like him!

More than half a million private contractors can access the country’s secrets. A large degree of surprise also was related to the fact that Snowden had access to many of the documents he obtained so soon after beginning to work for Booz Allen. Once obtained, a clearance is a relatively hard thing to lose, so long as you remain employed by a company that does work requiring you to hold one. These clearances also only need to be renewed every five years while active. According to a 2013 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a total of 483,263 contractors held Top Secret clearances in 2012, the highest level one can obtain, with another 582,524 holding them at the Confidential and Secret levels.

It has started even earlier than that. NO draft, Reagan privatizing anything he cab, schools, roads, utilities, building, prisons. It has been pernicious and all consuming for the republicans to privatize anything the government did. Reagan tried it with e FAA. This kirfufle today is just so much shit going on.

I read an in-depth investigative piece during the Bush years. I have no recollection of the author of the piece. Yes, Reagan went full out to privatize damn near everything he could. But we forget the Clinton years and their complicity in what has befallen the country since. I understand that a ‘business friendly’ Democrat was necessary to win in the 90’s but Clinton was RW in Democratic clothing (he’s only progressive during campaigns). Clinton was in the position to reverse the abandonment of the anti-trust laws and didn’t. He put mergers on steroids – the Telecom bill being particularly egregious.

And then there’s privatization. Clinton could have undone a lot of Reagan/Bush damage but he not only didn’t, he put it on steroids, putting Al Gore in charge of privatizing large swathes of government. So when Al Gore gets on his high horse about PBO, let’s remember that they were riding the peace dividend (what better time to undo privatization?), a booming economy that fell in their laps. and instead of protecting the middle class, they put privatization on steroids, shredded deregulation of the media, turning it over to Murdoch and Rush, and destroyed regulation of the banking industry that led directly to the economic collapse of 2008. And of course, NAFTA.

If Hillary’s our candidate I’ll support her. But she sure better have answers for what her husband’s administration did to the American way of life. Not that anyone will ask. It’s only PBO who must answer for absolutely everything, no matter how substance-less or ridiculous.

You are correct, .my mind doesn’t always function, I should have taken the time and thought through my points. Mind isn’t functioning at 100% today, nor my typing. I will vote for Hillary if she is the Dem nomination, but it would be a hold my breath. I have no use for her or Bill after his Presidency and her campaign. She really didn’t do much in SOS, except work on the women’s issued and she can do that under Bill’s world wide initiatives. My thoughts.

I think he would be considered a whistle blower if instead of talking about people having the capability/authority to access confidential information, he was able to give instances where people were abusing this authority and were actually accessing confidential information and using it for nefarious purposes.

But as many have said, just having the ability to access information is not so much an issue since we provide personal information — whether intentionally or unintentionally — through our use of technology as part of our everyday lives.

I agree that it does raise the question of how easy it is for these employees to gain top level clearance and also how many people actually have this level of clearance. It also raises the question of how much we are paying these companies ($200,000/year salary with his credentials?) in a time when the GOP is yelling about the need to cut government spending.

If You’re Wondering Who Helped Pass the NSA’s Eavesdropping Powers, Here Are Some Familiar Names…

By Bob Cesca

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It was advocacy like this from Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Beck and the right-wing establishment that created the Protect America Act and especially the FISA Amendments of 2008, which included Section 702, under which the operation that Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald and the others have been describing for the last handful of days was initiated. No, the FISA debate wasn’t solely about wiretapping phone conversations, it also included internet data monitoring. This was widely discussed and debated during the final two years of President Bush’s second term in office. It’s all on the record.
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So we can assume that Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Joe Scarborough and Bill O’Reilly will pitch in and finally help to repeal the 2001 AUMF, the USA PATRIOT Act and all the rest of the post-9/11 madness they helped to establish. Great! Now we can finally ejector-seat that horrendous era onto the slagheap of historical American blunders. We can also assume that, if there’s another attack, that these same actors won’t turn around — yet again — and blame the Democrats and Obama for weakening our national security structure. No. Of course they won’t do that.

So I’ve been walking the floor with a teething granddaughter for the last two days and am so overwhelmed with information that I feel as if I’m jumping in on a “Double Dutch” game coming back this morning. Intense baby time gives you a good understanding of what it’s like for a lot of working parents across the country whose lives are so busy and all consuming that they have no time to follow any kind of news. Most people simply do not follow the news and get only the glimmers of ideas from the general environment. That’s why I think so many of the faux scandals are falling flat as pancakes. Spying, so what? Who doesn’t know that? Benghazi, huh? AP huh? The IRS–oh, I paid my taxes. For the tens of millions of people who voted for PBO, he’s a good likeable guy..end of story.

The thing that struck me about the whole GG/Snowden deal is why would anybody–GG, the Chinese government, anybody, use such a stupid person as Snowden as a tool? If you’re going to play a high level game to undermine a US president, shouldn’t your ‘plant’ be smarter than Mo, Larry or Curly? Can’t wait to find out why/how Booz Allen hired this idiot. That question should haunt the company until its last day as a NSA contract, which may come sooner than they think.

Just catching up……
“why would anybody……use such a stupid person as Snowden as a tool?”

Oh, well GWB and Sara Palin comes to mind.
The GOP/Teabaggers just don’t care as long as they get the job done.
I am so grateful for POB and his Administration in so many ways. As I have said before and will continue to say….the covers have been pulled off the dark and evil doers who have corrupted this country for decades. They are going to turn on each other before POB leaves office and the so-called liberals, emprogs, et al, true colors will show who they really are.
They have been hiding under their own white sheets long enough.

Lost in the scandal over how 80 or so low-level IRS employees in Cincinnati tried to cope with irreconcilable conflicts among the law, regulations, and their duty to investigate applications for section 501(c)(4) status is a deeper story — one getting zero attention from Congress so far.

It is the story of the IRS’s management culture and how it is shaped by congressional oversight. It is partly a story of how an agency has become so depersonalized that it treats taxpayers as objects rather than people. It is the story of how the culture of secrecy that grows from section 6103 affects not only external communications but also internal attitudes. It is the story of an agency that is drowning, unable to do the multiple tasks assigned to it by a Congress that has slashed its training budget by 83 percent since 2010.

Up and at ’em all you O’s!!!!! IT’s a great getting up day agaoin for us TODdies don’cha know!!! I think this whole Snowden issue will shed some light on just how important it is to work together for the good of national security. All the polls are saying that the majority of Americans don’t mind the surveillance and prefer it to feeling unsafe. The discussion has moved from the crazy talk of Greenwald to the important stuff like who, what, and how do contractors, hiring unknowns, get access to our top secrets. We are seeing a nonpartisan, or at the very least, a bipartisan effort to have a mature discussion around this issue.

Edgar Zúñiga Jr. ‏@edgarzuniga 19m
Two bomb threats near the #Georgia state capitol. One at building home to Attorney General and state Supreme Court. #ATL #breaking
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Greenwald has a narrative in his head: the government is evil and “freedom”. He will look at all facts through the prism of his hate for government. The perfect example of a libertarian ideologue. There’s NO reasoning with this guy. He’s having a lot of tv time right now and the more he’s in the spotlight, the more he’ll feel comfortable to say what he really thinks, and the more the media and the public will realize how irrational he is.

I don’t believe that Greenwald’s problem is with the “government.” I have never believed that – based on his history and his current actions. Greenwald has a problem with Barack Obama and Eric Holder (for obvious reasons).

And this latest episode will reveal just that – despite Greenwald’s efforts to disguise his motives.

So why not bring him on some kind of visa. Visitor’s visa, ten year visa, work visa. I am sure he can afford the visa fees. If his sweetheart has to go back and get his visa renewed it would be no problem, he has connections. Bring him here and marry him anyway. The man just plain hates the President.

the man who says PBO is over-reaching is the same guy who wants PBO to wave a magic wand, ignoring pesky laws on everything from marrying his immigrant partner to closing Gitmo. He’s ridiculous, his hate is toxic.

Not the Govt……just the gov’t under this POTUS. It has 17 yrs Brazilian written all over it. Note, Bush didn’t help with the 17yrs old. However, in his Mind, Pres Obama should have, must and has refused……all in GG’s mind.

Totally agree with you, misspat! This whole scenario about the timing of his hire and his leaking of classified information needs to be thoroughly scrutinized. What took Booz so long to fire him when it’s obvious he has not been working for almost a month? Is that standard procedure for this company?

The Most Trusted News in the News Business? Hell No…….the most trusted Teabaggers parrot network in the Media business. They gave Bachmann a rebuttal to pres Obama’s SOTU in 2010/2011. TeaNN has lost it’s way.

I tuned to Chris Hayes prime time show once and saw Sirota. I haven’t been back except for one time. Chris Hayes was flaying his arms around, screeching in that high pitched voice. I would give my 3 year old godson a timeout for that behavior.

See this just irritates me to no end. PBO built it? A program that was around before he became President and yet he built it. Does megalomania include calling yourself a journalist but purposely disseminating false information?

The chamber failed to advance a measure to spend $50 billion on highway, rail, transit and airport improvements and another $10 billion as seed money for an infrastructure bank designed to spark private investment in construction. The vote was 51 to 49 in favor, but the measure needed 60 votes to proceed to a full debate.

Hi and Bye! I’m taking the bus downtown today, before the rain sets in, have to apply for my disabled fare rider card… I am a little nervous, I kinda wish I didn’t have to go alone; so you lot think of me okay, and I know I will be safe! Will check in on return, if I am not a basket case by then! Yikes! 😉